Time to take a stand

17 Aug 2016

The Government’s proposal to change the way contractors are taxed in the public sector is nothing short of a disaster.

We now urge you to write to your MP and take a stand with IPSE.

To summarise the proposal, the Government intends to make public sector organisations, or the agency, determine the IR35 status of an engagement, as opposed to the contractor’s company. The client/agency will then be responsible for applying employment taxes to those businesses that are deemed to be ‘caught’ by the new rules. In effect, the government wants to treat contractors like employees, without offering any employment rights.

The damage this will have on public services and the flexible economy is too great to ignore. That’s why in our consultation response to the Government today we urged them to entirely abandon the proposal.

However we need you help too. We need to leave this Government in no doubt of how damaging the reform will be.

Your letter

Make sure you spell out:

how the proposed change will affect your business

how will it affect the projects you work on (and what those projects are)

what steps you will take if the proposal is implemented (will you stop working for public sector clients; put up your day rate; or stop contracting altogether)

how the you will be denied employment rights, despite paying employment taxes

what do you want the MP to do (e.g. urge the Chancellor to reconsider)

Template letter

IPSE members can download a template letter here, to be sent to your MP, which highlights the damage this proposal would do to your business. Please note there are a couple of highlighted sections you should personalise, where you can write about the action you plan to take if the proposal is implemented, and just how you’ll be affected – for instance, will you have to work outside the public sector, or will you have to hike up your rates? Better still, feel free to put the whole message in your own words. Please let us know when you write to your MP and any response you receive by contacting us at pressoffice@ipse.co.uk.

Meet the author

Chris Bryce

Chief Executive

Chris was one of the original 2,000 members of the organisation when it was formed as the Professional Contractors Group in 1999 and was a long-time contractor with a strong client base in global scale change management.

Before becoming a contractor Chris had a career in sales and marketing followed by 10 years in senior management in the logistics industry. Chris was appointed as Interim CEO in June 2013 and accepted the role permanently in December 2013.